GR8atta2d

I have permission to hunt a local farm. It is quite a honey hole. The farmer plants corn and soybeans. He suffers a lot of crop damage. In back of the crops is a small section of field that is seperated from the crops, maybe 3 acres, that is grassy. In the off season I want to approach him about letting me plant that area with a Clover or other Plot type food, that will help the herd and help antler developement.
My questions is: Will this help alleviate his crop damage or just bring more deer into the area that will end up in his crops anyway.


He is a nice guy and his son who is older but lives close, also hunts. But he would like me to wipe out all the deer because they hit him hard. Obviously I'm looking for some helpful suggestions that may allow me to plant the area.

Why you may ask? Well I know they have enough feed in the area when the crops are up. But early and late in the year they don't have them easy pickings. I get so much joy from that area that I want to give back and also possibly reap some rewards.

adams

I think there is a good chance if you plant the right crops you will keep the deer or somewhat keep the deer out of his crops. For years the deer have raided my grandfathers and fathers gardens. This year I planted two small plots and it really help to keep the deer out. The gardens are out in the open and the plots I planted are behind a "hedge row" so they were pretty much out of view. I lanted about 1/2 acre of imperial clover which didn't get a whole lot of use until mid September or early October after my Imperial Powerplant plot had been eaten to death and frost had killed what remained.

If I had 3 acres I'd probably plant it 50/50 clover and powerplant. The clover will give them food through the fall and winter months but the powerplant should really concentrate the deer durring the summer. In my area they really seen to prefer the blend of beans, peas, and sunflowers. There are other things in the mix and it would probably be cheaper to buy bulk seed and blend then yourself and if you're interested I'll check and see what the seed blends are and post them for you. Square foot to square foot you'll get much more out of the powerplant but the down side is it's an annual.

A link if you like: http://www.whitetailinstitute.com/pr.../advantage.php

If you've got more questions I'd be glad to do what I can to help. I'm not a professional but have got some experience I can share.

shed33

I have a little practice at this as well. I run a habitat enhancement business in the summers for private landowners. (during the school year I teach) anyway I have put in some plots in between land owners gardens, orchards and alafalfa fields to help keep the deer and elk out of his marketable crops he is raising. The land owner, (one in particular) is seeing a significant drop off in animals hitting his crops. He and I located his plots back near the deer and elk bedding areas, these are more secluded and easier to travel to for the animals on his property. I prepaired the plot areas, he planted a wheat/oat mix for the carbohydrates for fall winter and spring feed. He planted a high protein alfafla blend for the late spring and summer protein the deer are attracted too. So far he likes what he is seeing, especially in his newly planted orchard he is noticing less deer and elk damage to the trees. Thats the feedback he has given me thus far.

GR8atta2d

Great info guys thanks and keep it coming. I will print out these replies for when I approach him.

I may wish to talk with both of you in more detail. if I get the permission, come planting time.

shed33

One thing I didn't mention, we piped water back to his food plots, built a small resevior with my dozer and placed it right between both plots. He put salt in too. He put a mineral station in next to the water.

slobbyrobby33

Badatta2d - Over the Past couple of years wwe have had clover out it seems like the deer didn't use it much when the cropws were right for the picken. So my thought would it won't keep them out of the crops, but what it will do is allow you to have more oppertunity to kill more deer after the crops have bee combined off. that may be a good insentive for the farmer to plant it.